Truck



(No Model.) Q 2 Sheets- Sheet 1. M. S. KELLEY.

TRUCK. No. 504,476. Patented Sept. 5, 1893.

v (No Model.) I 2 Sh eets -Sheet 2,

- M. s.- KELLEY.

TRUCK.

No. 504,476. 3 Patented Sept. 5, 1893.

v v aW Woz abtozneqo UNITED STATES MANLY S. KELLEY, OF PROVIDENCE,

PATENT. OFFICE.

RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE NEW YORK.

.TRUCK'.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Pate ntNo. 504,476, dated September 5, 1893.

-Applioation filed June 3, 1892. Serial No. 435,443. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

l 3e it known that I, MANLY S. KELLEY, a c1t1zen of the United States, residing atProvideuce, in the county of Providence-State of Rhode Island, have invented certainnew and r useful Improvements in a Truck or Bus for Books or Papers, of which the following is a speclfication.

My invention relates to an'improvement in the construction and use of a truck or bus deslgned to carry masses of books or papers from room to room, or from rooms into vaults at night. Where the trucks are for books solely, provision is made for proper compartments 11113116 lower part of the truck for specialvolumes, rendering them easy of access, and an upper part upon which masses of books may be piled. Provision is also made for an arrangement of wheels, suited to sustain'th'e truck in a rigid and level position while stationary, which will at the same time permit of its being readily moved from place to place, or up and down an incline, as is often necessary in moving trucks into'vaults.

Heretofore trucks upon which masses of books could be piled have been constructed without divisions, such as roller bookshelves,

" book stalls, 850., while on the other hand,

trucks having such subdivisions for special volumes have had their capacity limited to such subdivisions and unprovided with compartments suited to carry books inbulk.

It is often necessary to move these trucks; not only from room to room, but alsofrom offices into adjoining vaults, for safe storage. Frequently, the thresholds to these vaults are high, necessitating the use of' an inclined plane or bridge, by means of which the truck is run over the threshold into the vault. Trucks provided with four wheels in any form, are with great difficulty moved over any form of thresholdjor inclined plane-particularly in case of vaults, as it is generally necessary that the truck should be pushed into the vaults from the rear. In order to overcome the objections incident to this method of handling books, I have devised an improved truck or bus of the construction illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in Which-P Figure 1 is a perspective view sufficient to illustrate my improved truck, and Fig. is an inverted plan view. Fig. 3, is an enlarged sectional detail view illustrating the manner of attaching the handles to the sides of the body between the corner uprights.

ends f, may be connected to each other at the corners and to the vertical portions a. Any suitable number of cross pieces g, may be used as is necessary to impart the requisite strength.

I divide the truck into two parts, an upper and lower part, by means of a shelf, cap or cover a, of sheet metal or other material; this, together with side guards h, and partitions h of open wire work or other suitable material, serves to protect the special volumes carried in the lower'part of the frame, while by a proper extension upward of corner bars c, a, with the curved unions b, connecting them to transverse pieces cl, I form suitable handles d, d. The handles (1, d, with the corner bars a, Ct, curved unions 1), and shelf 0, form a capacious rack capable of receiving a large number of books and fully doubling the ordinary capacity of such trucks. Additional handles may bejsecured by connecting horns g, g, to the uprights a, and extending across the bar, rod, or tube a, between each pair of horns. Where it is necessary to make the horns g,g, of unusual length, or where the space where the truck is stored is limited, I hinge horns g, g, in a suitable manner as by pivots 8 near the uprights a, in such manner as will permit bar 71, being turned forward and upward against the end of truck where it is retained by suitable clip and spring.

On reference to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the horns g, g, which support the handles 2', are pivoted to the inner sides of the corner uprights in such manner as to be permitted 5 to fall downward against the frame of the truck whenever such handles are not to be used, and if desired the connection between the horns and uprights could be such as to cause the handles to stand out in the position shown in Fig. 1, by simple frictional contact.

Preferably however, the handles are so supported as to fall of their own weight into a downward position. -Whenever it is desired 5 to use the handles it is simply necessary to elevate the same as will be apparent. By thus making the frame out of gas pipe and couplings as set forth, together with the partitions and side guards of reticulated material such as open wire work I secure a truck having the maximum of strength with the minimum of weight.

Any suitable support for the articles to be carried in lower part 'of truck may be provided: For light books I prefer a series of upright book stalls, but where the books are heavy I prefer to provide a series of shelves having rollers-such for instance as those set forth in Letters Patent No. 437,833. Such shelves permit the heavy books to be placed upon and taken from the truck readily and permit any book to be inspected at any time without disturbance to other books in the truck.

The lower part of the truck fitted as described may be readily used as a rack for special books frequently used in offices during the day, while the upper part or rack is suited to receive the miscellaneous volumes. These may be heaped upon shelf 0, while the truck is moved about the office, and all the books of a department can thus be readily moved from one place to another or wheeled into a vault for safe keeping at night.

The shelves may be stationary,butI prefer to connect them adjustably to the frame constituting the truck. Thus, there may be vertical strips 2, 2, having openings 3, and there may be other openings 4, in the standard a of 40 the frame, and the shelves are provided with perforated ears 6, extending into position to receive bolts 5, by which the shelves are secured in any desired position by pressing the bolts through one or the other seriesof 0pen- 5 ings that may be necessary to hold the shelf in itsproper place. Ordinarily, the shelves are horizontal, but where the truck is liable to receive hard usage or heavy jars, as for instance when transported from story to story by means of lifts or elevators, I prefer to join the shelves to standards in such manner as will cause the rear part of shelf nearest the vertical strips 2, to be slightly lower than the front part. The books resting upon the shelves having this slight incline will be stopped by the vertical strips 2, and cannot be easily displaced by any sudden jarring or tilting of the truck.

The frame of the truck is supported upon a single pair of large wheels, j, j. These may be placed either in center of the truck or slightly to the rear of center-preferably in the latter position when the books are not unusually heavy.

At the front of truck I provide a swiveled wheel 70, which with large wheels j, j, insures a support at three points for the truck and permits it to be wheeled upon the three wheels 3', j, but as the wheels j,j, are on or near the center of truck it can be run upon these two wheels to reduce friction, tilted or moved readily from side to side to prevent the rear ends of the truck from tilting downward under excessive weight at that end. When it is sta tionary I provide a support one end of which is attached to the truck while the other end is upon the floor serving to retain the truck in a rigid horizontalposition. This supportis so arranged as to be readily displaced when it is desired to move or tilt the truck and any suitably hinged arm or bracket may be used for this purpose, or a rod or tube fastened vertleally to lower, rear end of frame in such amanner as to permit of its being moved vertically up or down as is necessary and retained in either position by suitable clip or spring. When the truck is to be frequently moved, however, I prefer a support that can be readily displaced by the foot, as is shown in the form of the arm m, pivoted to a clip a, and having a spring 2), pressing against its flat end which tends to keep the arm in a vertical position, but permits the said arm to be swung to one side or the other and then held in that position. Preferably the lower end of arm 'm, is provided with a roller 8, and the arm is of such length that the roller will rest upon the ground when the other wheels are upon the ground thereby securing a very steady support, but when it is desirable to move the truck the arm m, may be turned upward to one side or the other by pressure with the foot when the truck may be readily moved from place to place.

It is obvious that a variety of compartments for books, drawers for papers, &c., may be introduced into the truck without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Without limiting myself, therefore, to the precise construction and arrangement of no parts described, I claim- 1. The combination with the frame of the bus and its supporting wheels j, j and wheel 70, of a support at the opposite end from the wheel 70 adapted to be displaced, substantially I I 5 as set forth.

2. A truck for books and papers having its body constructed of vertical standards, acap or cover, upper and lower horizontal side and cross pieces, and couplers uniting the ends of the side and cross pieces to each other and to the standards, substantially as described.

3. In a truck for books and papers, the body thereof constructed with the uprights having openings therein and the horizontal side and cross pieces, in combination with roller shelves having partitions adapted to receive bolts for adjustably securing the shelves in position upon said uprights, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the frame of the bus consisting of uprights and cross pieces,

of roller shelves and means for adjustingand folded up against said frame, substantially securing the shelves in different positions, as described. substantially as set forth. In testimony whereof I have signed my 5. The combination with the frame of the name to this specification in the presence of 5 bus of the roller shelves and vertical strips two. subscribing witnesses.

in rear of shelves, and means for securing said shelves in slightly inclined positions, MANLY KELLEY substantially as described. Witnesses:

6. The combination of the frame of the M. F. BLIGH, 10 bus and the handles gt', arranged to be J. A. MILLER, Jr. 

